Trying to use py2exe, but python is not recognized

Question

I am following the the tutorial at http://www.py2exe.org/index.cgi/Tutorial to figure out how to use py2exe. I get down to step 3 where you are supposed to run the command:

python setup.py py2exe

I do that and then I get this error:

'python' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

I have python 2.4 installed on my machine. any idea's? I am sure it is something simple.

Answer 1

Python just isn't on your path. If you indeed have Python 2.4, it should be C:\Python24\python.exe with the default installer.

Wherever the file is located, if you don't set Python's folder in your path, you will write the command as

C:\Python24\python.exe setup.py py2exe

(or whatever the correct path is).

Depending on how your installation was configured, you might be able to just do

setup.py py2exe

since Windows might automatically associate *.py files with Python.

You might want to also read "Finding the Python Executable" from the Python documentation.

Answer 2

You need to add python to your system path. This is done differently on different OSs. Instructions for most versions of Windows You need to add C:\Python24 or whereever python is on your computer.